Detroit Lions' Graham Glasgow: 'Everything worked out exactly how I liked' in free agency
A record salary cap increase this year meant the money for offensive guards was about to skyrocket, but Graham Glasgow arrived on the doorstep of free agency with a different set of priorities.
"I talked to my agent I think the night before the tampering period went about," Glasgow said Wednesday. "I mean, you can always see that there’s some other interest from other teams and even if you’re not talking about money. And he told me what (the Lions) had kind of offered and I said I didn’t even really want to really wait and see, use other teams’ offers to maybe go back and try and get more money. I just kind of wanted to get it done and have it be done."
A third-round pick by the Lions in 2016, Glasgow returned to the team on a one-year deal last spring and had one of the best seasons of his career.
He played good football, with some of his best friends in life, on a team that came one win away from reaching the Super Bowl.
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And with his future in limbo again this spring, Glasgow decided he wanted to run it back in Detroit.
On Wednesday, Glasgow officially signed the three-year, $20 million deal he and the Lions agreed to late Sunday, tying him to the team through the 2026 season.
The money was a far cry from what other top guards got in free agency. Robert Hunt signed a five-year, $100 million deal with the Carolina Panthers. Jonah Jackson, Glasgow's ex-linemate with the Lions, got three years and $51 million from the Los Angeles Rams. And the Rams gave Kevin Dotson $48 million over three years.
But for Glasgow, "everything was perfect. Everything worked out exactly how I liked and how I wanted."
"Last year, it was a big year for me," Glasgow said. "You guys called it a prove-it deal and it was, and I said I proved it here before and I want to prove it again. And that’s what I did, and I feel like that’s not really — it’s not like that doesn’t apply still. I feel like there’s still a lot to prove and I feel like me, myself and us an offense can get so much better, and us as a team also can get so much better. That was a big reason why I wanted to come back is I feel like the prospect of us being even a better team than we were last year is really good."
Glasgow should play a big role in the Lions' offense again this fall as a starting guard on a line that was one of the best in the NFL last season.
The Lions still need a replacement for Jackson, and have two in-house options in Kayode Awosika and Colby Sorsdal, but have options with Glasgow's versatility and experience.
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Glasgow started games at right guard, left guard and center last season and finished second in the league in run block win rate by an interior lineman.
He said the Lions' proximity to contention — the team went 12-5 and won its first division title in 30 years last season — also was a big part of his desire to return.
"I feel like when you have a really, really good season with a good team and then things don’t end the way that you want them to go, I feel like you’d like to come back, you want to come back, you want to try and get another crack at it," he said. "I play video games, you don’t want to end on a loss, right? You want to try to end on a win. I feel like coming back here and being able to do that and having an opportunity to come back and have another crack at it is really good."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why Graham Glasgow passed on free agency to re-sign with Detroit Lions
